We all want to have a good-looking garden, but who wants all the work that goes with it? Did you know that it’s possible to have a lovely, carefree, low-maintenance garden without resorting to vast areas of gravel and paving stones?<\/p>\n
In this article, I’ll share some clever ideas to help you reduce the amount of work you put into your garden while increasing your enjoyment. Read on to learn more.<\/p>\n
Think about the ways in which you will use your garden and establish a list based on your gardening goals. For example, if you have children or pets, establishing a safe, pleasant play area may be your top priority. Once your charges are happy and safe, you will have a little breathing room to work on your other garden dreams, such as:<\/p>\n
..and so on.<\/p>\n
Imagine your overall dream for your garden; break it down into mini, doable projects and prioritise them. This method helps you avoid feeling overwhelmed by the task at hand.<\/p>\n
If you’d like to have a lawn but don’t want to spend countless hours of every year fertilising, mowing, watering and cursing moles, try thinking of grass as a bedding plant. Establish a small, specific area where you will have lawn space.<\/p>\n
Keep the boundaries straight and the lay of the land flat. Go for a tough, close-growing, drought resistant grass that won’t need frequent mowing and watering.<\/p>\n
Invest in a wide span, mulching mower that will help you make quick work of your mowing tasks. With a mulching mower, you won\u2019t have to rake up grass clippings. Just leave them on the lawn to decompose and feed the soil. Alternately, you may wish to purchase a mulching mower with a collection bag and just add your grass clippings to your compost bin.<\/p>\n
During the late spring and summer months, you may want to take a break from lawn care by allowing your grass to naturalise. This is a good way to save time and water and attract wildlife to your yard. If you’ve sown wildflower seeds in with your grass, you can enjoy a nice, seasonal wildflower meadow.<\/p>\n
You will want to mow before winter comes. When you do, remember that you should not take off more than a couple of inches of grass at a time. If your grass has grown very long, mow it at the highest setting your mower will allow. Give it a week of rest and then mow it at a medium setting. If you are happy with this length, leave it and call it “done” for the winter. If not, give it another week\u2019s rest and have another go at it.<\/p>\n
Your mulching mower will chop grass up finely so that you can leave it in place to nourish the soil naturally. You can also use your mulcher to eliminate leaf raking. Just mow over leaves to create nutritious mulch for your grass or garden.<\/p>\n
Be sure to mulch heavily under border shrubs and bushes to reduce the amount you have to water and to discourage weed growth. If you are going to use pebbles or bark chipping as mulch, lay down landscape fabric first. If you are going to use shredded leaves and grass clippings from your mulching mower, this is not necessary as the heat generated by the decomposing mulch will keep weeds down. If you do this, don’t allow the mulch to pile up around the trunks of your trees, bushes and shrubs. As organic mulch decomposes, it nourishes the soil, but it can also burn plant and shrub stems.<\/p>\n
Instead of wooden fencing, choose aluminum or resin versions that look just like wood but never need paint or stain. If you want a fence for privacy rather than containment, consider planting a slow-growing evergreen hedge instead of installing fencing. You may need to clip your hedge from time-to-time, but you will never need to paint it.<\/p>\n